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Easter dinner rules: Wine and food pairings for the non-turkey holiday dinner

Easter arrives Sunday and if, like many families, you use the occasion to gather the clan in a social setting the focus is most likely to be food and wine. With the two big turkey holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) behind us the question is, will it be ham, lamb, pork or fish and which wines should you be thinking about pairing with your choice?

This month we explore some of the classic wine and food matches of Easter and provide just a touch of practical theory behind the pairing. I should confess I firmly believe in the phrase, there are no rules anymore when it comes to pairing food and wine, but as Mom always asked, “If your friends jump off the top of a mountain would you do it, too?”

I’m sure she was referring to those people who drink shiraz with halibut and cabernet with sushi because someone said drinking red wine is good for you. There may not be any wine pairing rules in the new millennium, but common sense and years of experience have taught me to believe some wines react better with certain foods than others. The trick is to know which.

One of Easter’s problematic matches is that handsomely glazed ham awash in sugar (pineapple) and salt. Both ingredients tend to bring out the bitterness and tannins in wine. The pairing is not insurmountable as long as you think about fruity, lighter structure reds with supple tannins. In this case the tempranillo or garnacha grape from Spain should do the job. For white wines, a non-wooded or lightly wooded pinot grigio (or gris) would be equally acceptable.

My red pairing is Telmo Rodriguez Viña Ciento Cinco 105 2006 $18 from Cigales, Spain. The entry is round and supple; the fruit is a mix of black cherry, fresh plum, tobacco, orange and licorice flavours. It should easily complement the ham. My white suggestion is local: the Hillside Estate Pinot Gris Reserve Series 2006 $18 from the Okanagan Valley. Look for the floral, citrus, honey, ginger, mineral, buttery nose to perfectly mesh with the ham. The flavours of pear, mineral, quince, lemon rind, butter and ginger are equally up to salt and sugar.

Lamb is more of a slam dunk pairing for syrah or shiraz. A roasted leg of lamb allows for plenty of manoeuvring room with red wine but the classic match is syrah/shiraz. Plenty of minty, lamb flavours call for an equally intense red to tame them and you get that with shiraz/syrah. From Chile you should consider Emiliana Orgánico Adobe Syrah 2005 $15 from the Valle del Colchagua. This is a round, dry, elegant red with peppery, smoky, chocolate, vanilla, bay leaf flavours and it’s 100 per cent organic. From South Africa try the Glen Carlou Syrah 2005 $30 from the Paarl, Coastal Region. The GC is very rich and ripe with plummy fruit mixed with black licorice, tobacco, smoky, savoury notes. Surely this will melt every mouthful of lamb.

The delicate flavour of pork makes it an ideal candidate for citrus-based marinades and you can chose red or white wine for the match. The blancs, sauvignon or chenin, are no-brainers, as are most rosés. If you’re using oranges as part of the recipe think viognier.

The best rosé in the market at the moment, in my estimation, is the Torres De Casta Rosé 2006 $13 from Catalunya, Spain. It’s a masterful blend of garnacha tinta and cariñena bursting with black raspberry and cherry scents. Agreeably round and crisp with the perfect touch of sweetness, it will easily tame the pork. If it has to be white wine, my choice would be the Paul Mas Viognier 2007 , from l'Hérault, Languedoc, France $14. Mas delivers an explosive punch of peachy apricot, ginger fruit with a mineral, honey, butter finish to easily match the flavour and the fat in the pork — plus it’s a fabulous bargain.

Let’s see now all that leaves is the salmon. B.C.’s signature fish is a welcome sight at most meals and as we have come to expect, it can be prepared in a number of ways. In its simplest form the pre-meal smoked salmon (and cream cheese) can be a delight to share with your dinner guests. In this case I’m sticking to a young gulp-able riesling to accompany the smoked salmon. The almost opulent textures of the dish will be perfectly balanced by the zesty, fruity riesling. Think local for this match and grab yourself a bottle of Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling 2007 $17 from the Okanagan Valley. This wine is super, fresh and alive with citrus and grapefruit flavours. It’s perfectly pitched to oppose the soft opulent textures of the salmon and cream cheese.

If salmon is the main course you may want to consider the classic B.C presentation of cedar-planked salmon. In this case the dense “meaty” oily fish with its smoky flavours can play host to a trio of pinots: blanc, noir and gris. You can actually consider serving all three wine types to see which you or your guests prefer.

My pinot blanc would come from Alsace, as in Hugel Pinot Blanc “Blanc de Blancs” 2005 $22. The baked pear, buttery, mineral, orange rind aromas and its fresh, citrus and quince flavours should perfectly counterbalance the oil in the salmon and lift it off the plate.

B.C pinot gris is a perfect match for the salmon. Mission Hill Family Estate Reserve Pinot Gris $22 comes with crisp and fresh fruit that is balanced with honey, grapefruit, green apple, spicy, buttery mineral flavours. Bring on the salmon.

Finally, for pinot noir you should head back to Chile for the bargain of the century: Santa Rita Reserva Pinot Noir 2006 from Valle de Leyda $15 . Big black cherry jam, orange peel, compost, celery salt, licorice, and caraway flavours signal New World pinot. Good concentration and finish with great fruit. It’s so tasty you may forget about the salmon. Happy Easter.

Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com